Manila, Philippines — The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) got stronger from more than a 1 percent on morning fall and closed Friday with a marginal 0.01 percent loss, after investors took profit prior to the initial public offerings (IPO) of Eagle Cement Corporation and Cebu Landmasters Inc.

“It is purely a technical correction, and possible withdrawals for the forthcoming IPOs,” Summit Securities, Inc. President Harry Liu said in an SMS. The PSEi plummet to 0.01 percent or 0.87 points to 7,815.53 at the closing bell. The broad All Shares nosedived by 0.19 percent or 8.62 points to close at 4,648.26.

The Eagle Equities President Joseph Roxas noted that the investors sold stock positions in favor of the IPO shares.
The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) has given Eagle Cement’s and property developer Cebu Landmasters’ IPO applications a go signal on Wednesday.

The Eagle Cement Corp. is offering 500 million primary shares at P15 per share, with an overallotment option of 75 million shares.

“We are very pleased with the book-building results. The issue was well-received by institutional investors. This is a strong indication of their confidence in Eagle’s fundamentals and potential to be the major driver in the cement industry,” SB Capital President Noel Dayrit was quoted as saying in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Cebu Landmasters — founded by property veteran Jose Soberano in 2003 — will be offering a total of 505 million shares, both primary and secondary shares, at P5 per share, allowing the real estate developer to raise up to P2.9 billion in new funds for expansion in Visayas and Mindanao regions.

“We are excited to bring Cebu Landmasters to the market at this price,” BDO Capital and Investment Corp. Eduardo V. Francisco said in a press statement.

BDO Capital serves as the Cebu Landmaeters’ IPO’s issue manager, lead underwriter and book-runner alongside BPI Capital Corp. “Demand was strong with several well-respected funds committing to the vision of the Soberano family,” Mr. Francisco added.

The offer period of Eagle Cement Corporation is from May 16 to 22, while the Cebu Landmasters has scheduled an offering period of May 19 to 26. Cebu Landmasters will be having a public roadshows on May 17 at the Makati Shangri-La, in May 18 in Cebu City Marriott Hotel and May 19 in Marco Polo Davao.

The primary proceeds will be used to mainly on fund land acquisition and development costs for new and ongoing real estate projects, based on the firm’s IPO Prospectus filling. Last year 2016, Cebu Landmasters tallied a net income of P702.32 million. It has skyrocketed at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 150 percent since 2012. The sales turnover in 2016 stood at P2.18 billion while operating profit closed at P849.7 million.